


Caught in the Middle (Regressuary Day 28)

by mcschnuggles



Series: Schnugg's Regressuary 2019 [28]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Caregiver!Ron, Gen, Non-Sexual Age Play, Regressing!Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 02:56:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18044129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcschnuggles/pseuds/mcschnuggles
Summary: Prompt: Characters A and B don’t really hang out much, other than when Character A is small, so it’s kind of awkward when they run into each other in public.Hermione and Ron got into an argument, leaving Harry kind of caught in the middle.





	Caught in the Middle (Regressuary Day 28)

**Author's Note:**

> I finally finished all my prompts! And only 8 days late!
> 
>  
> 
> I am so sorry.

            Harry has a bad habit of wandering when something’s on his mind.

            It just makes more sense to go somewhere, even if that place is just a big loop around Hogwarts, than stay cooped up in his room and stew. With his Invisibility Cloak, it’s not like he has to worry about being caught by Filch.

            It usually takes two laps around the entire school for exhaustion to finally settle in. No matter what plagues his mind, all it takes is two laps. It’s too much of a walk for him to feel anything short of knackered.

            Harry returns to the Gryffindor common room and pulls off the Invisibility Cloak. He closes his eyes. No sleep pulls at his eyelids, like he hadn’t even walked at all. Maybe he should’ve gone out of his way for that final lap. He decides to cut his losses and heads back for his room, only to come face to face with one of the last people he wants to see.

            Ron.

            Ron immediately freezes, caught halfway between his place as a Prefect and his place as Harry’s friend. “You know it’s after hours…” he begins. He’s always the indulgent one, the one willing to bend the rules. The very reason Hermione’s so upset with him.

            Harry nods. He’s never one to speaking when he’s stuck in his head, much less so when he’s small. He’s vaguely aware of how this must look to Ron, how it explains perfectly why Ron looks so concerned.

            “Err…” Ron keeps his eyes on the floor. “How’s Hermione?”

            “She’s doing great.” Harry says noncommittally. He supposes that’s not a lie. When she’s upset with Ron, she does an excellent job of pretending he doesn’t exist.

            “Good.”

            They both know that wasn’t what Ron was asking. While Hermione can pretend Ron doesn’t exist when she’s upset, Ron can match that energy and then some. No, what he’s concerned about is Harry.

            If there is anything that can set alight Ron and Hermione’s bickering, it’s Harry being regressed. Their styles are too different for them to agree on much of anything.

            It’s not that either of them is less involved than the other. They both show they care in their own different ways. Hermione had already checked out and reread every book on childcare that Hogwarts has—which isn’t that many, but it was enough for her to get the gist of what she’s doing.

            Ron on the other hand is a natural. He’d been signed on to help with Ginny when they were younger, despite only being a year older than her, and he’d been around his mother enough to know exactly what was asked of a doting parent.

            Harry would never say aloud that he likes Ron better.

            He cares for Hermione deeply, and she works so hard to properly care for him, but there’s a huge difference between his best friends. With Hermione there’s always a beat, a second where she double-checks her work, shifts how she hugs him, adjusts her wording. Ron scoops him up without a second thought, his actions so natural that Harry’s mind has no choice to go quiet.

            “Bloody hell, Harry, your collar’s uneven.” Ron stops mid-action, his body going rigid. It’s such a parental, fussy, _not a thing to do while Harry’s not regressed_ type of action that he has no excuse. “Listen, I’m going to pretend I didn’t see you so long as you go get some rest, okay?”

            Harry doesn’t say anything, which Ron takes as a yes. He hangs back, clearly fighting against his better instincts to give Harry his space.

            He turns to leave. “I’ll best be going then.”

            “No.” Harry catches him by the wrist before he has the chance to get too far away. He’s slipping, so he can’t even bring himself to act dignified.

            Ron turns and looks at him—really looks at him. “Bloody hell,” he murmurs. “When was the last time you were small?” He doesn’t need an answer to know. “Weeks?”

            Harry can’t answer aloud, so he just shrugs.

            Ron repeats his earlier sentiment of “Bloody hell,” and it’s enough to bring a faint smile to Harry’s lips. If Hermione were here, she would’ve scolded him ten times over for cursing in front of Harry. It used to startle him, but after hearing Ron say “bloody hell” every other breath, he more or less got used to it. Not like that stopped Hermione from admonishing him at every turn, but the resulting banter always made him grin.

            “Let’s find Hermione, yeah?”

            Harry must look worse than he first thought if Ron is actually considering getting Hermione. How he’s going to do that, Harry has no idea, but he doesn’t resist as he’s guided over to a couch in the common room.

            The roar of the fire is enough to guide his eyes shut, and it isn’t long before he has a caregiver on each side, holding his hands, stroking his hair, and promising that things will be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> mcschnuggles.tumblr.com


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